Your basket is empty

Categories:
Narrow my search:

Results 1 to 20 out of a total of 3374
From
HI-RES$27.99
CD$22.39

Richard Wagner : Der Fliegende Holländer - Pierre-Louis Dietsch : Le vaisseau fantôme ou le maudit des mers

Marc Minkowski

Classical - Released November 4, 2013 | naïve classique

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions Diapason d'or
From
HI-RES$24.71
CD$19.77

Wagner: Siegfried, WWV 86C

Simon O´Neill

Opera - Released September 22, 2023 | BR-Klassik

Hi-Res Booklets
Taken from several live performances at the Gasteig in Munich in early 2023, this recording of Wagner's Siegfried made classical best-seller charts later that year. It is part of a series that began in 2016, intending to record the entire Ring Cycle live. The recordings have all been successful, and this is testimony to the skills of conductor Simon Rattle. There are conductors' Wagner performances, and there are singers' Wagner performances. This is the former. The Bavarian Radio Symphony seizes the listener's attention from the opening bell, and the energy never flags. There is nothing objectionable about the singers, but few of them will stick in one's head. The exception, perhaps, is soprano Anja Kampe as Brunnhilde (and Danae Kontora as the Voice of the Forest Bird); Kampe, of course, doesn't enter until the end, but at that point, everything comes together for a really thrilling conclusion of "radiant love, laughing death." Although these were live performances, they might just as well have been made in a studio; Bavarian Radio's engineering in its hometown is superbly detailed, and the audience discipline is awesome (no applause or other crowd noise of any kind is retained). There is a liveliness to Rattle's Wagner that sets it apart from performances in the German tradition, and it is fully on display in this recording.© James Manheim /TiVo
From
CD$7.90

Wagner: Le vaisseau fantôme (Diapason n°615)

George London

Opera - Released June 28, 2013 | Les Indispensables de Diapason

Booklet
From
CD$19.77

Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer, WWV 63 (Live)

Bayreuther Festspielorchester

Opera - Released July 27, 2018 | Opus Arte

Booklet
From
CD$65.25

Wagner: Die Walkure (1953)

Ramón Vinay

Classical - Released February 1, 2015 | Myto Historical

From
CD$19.77

Wagner, R.: Lohengrin [Opera]

Kwangchul Youn

Opera - Released April 14, 2009 | Profil

This Profil release is pulled together out of several performances of Richard Wagner's opera Lohengrin in a production given at Cologne Philharmonic Hall, led by Semyon Bychkov, in late May to mid June 2008. While issued as a hybrid multichannel DSD three-disc set, the sound is not particularly spectacular, being a little murky and slanted toward the extremes of the spectrum; quiet passages are extremely quiet and loud ones will levitate you out of your seat. It is nonetheless a good performance of Lohengrin, though no one in the cast is particularly well noted, and none of them turns in a performance that would tend to capture one's attention apart from the rest. Clearly this Lohengrin is presented with the attitude of providing an appropriate and respectful service to the work, rather than providing a showcase for a given singer. And for that it works; it is a swiftly moving, efficient performance included with the complete libretto in three languages and if one is planning on taking in a performance of Lohengrin and wants to become familiar with the opera beforehand, this Profil set is close to ideal. On the other hand, for those who own a Lohengrin or two already and know how Elsa is going to get out of the mess she's in, this set likely won't unseat any longstanding favorite recording already on the shelf. As the depth of Lohengrin recordings is nowhere near what it is for the operas in Wagner's Ring cycle or Tristan und Isolde, Profil had a chance to bring on a genuinely competitive set; here it settles for something merely acceptable and relatively ordinary, which is still a nice offering but not likely to grab the brass ring. © TiVo
From
HI-RES$31.79
CD$24.59

Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre: Céphale et Procris

Reinoud Van Mechelen

Classical - Released February 9, 2024 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions Diapason d'or
From
HI-RES$24.70
CD$19.76

Psyché

Christophe Rousset

Classical - Released January 13, 2023 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

Hi-Res Booklet
From
HI-RES$24.71
CD$19.77

Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer, WWV 63 (Live)

Bayreuther Festspielorchester

Opera - Released March 14, 2006 | Orfeo

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions Gramophone Editor's Choice
From
HI-RES$15.56
CD$12.45

Gloire Immortelle !

Hervé Niquet

Classical - Released November 17, 2023 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

Hi-Res Booklet
From
CD$19.77

Wagner: Lohengrin, WWV 75 (Live)

Bayreuth Festival Orchestra

Opera - Released November 3, 2017 | Orfeo

From
HI-RES$14.99
CD$9.99

Antonio Salieri : Les Horaces

Christophe Rousset

Full Operas - Released August 31, 2018 | Aparté

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 5 de Diapason - 5 Sterne Fono Forum Klassik - Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik
Ever since Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus and the subsequent film by Milos Forman, the operas of Mozart's rival Antonio Salieri have enjoyed a revival: historians determined that not only did Salieri not poison Mozart, he admired him, and Mozart at least respected the older Italian. Indeed, Les Horaces (1786) represents several accomplishments that were not on Mozart's résumé: it is a full-scale French opera, and its recitatives are orchestrally accompanied and contribute elegantly to the action. Berlioz, always an astute critic, numbered himself among the admirers of Salieri's French operas of the 1780s; this one was not as successful as the others, but that could have been due to any number of factors. The plot deals with a woman, Camille, whose romantic life is caught between factions in a war in early Roman times, and Rousset's live reading here benefits from a strong soprano lead, Dutch singer and French Baroque specialist Judith van Wanroij. Other singers likewise step up, but the real credit goes to Rousset, who gets the strengths of Salieri's score: the grand intermèdes, and the exciting finale of Act 1, where the joining-together of action and music is in Mozart's league even if the tunes are not. Also praiseworthy is the engineering work of the curiously named Little Tribeca team, who obtain the best possible sound from none other than Versailles. Highly recommended to those who have dismissed Salieri: this is a sympathetic and enthusiastic performance of his music. © TiVo
From
HI-RES$21.99
CD$15.49

Lully: Armide

Les Talens Lyriques

Classical - Released March 24, 2017 | Aparté

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 4F de Télérama - Gramophone Editor's Choice
From
HI-RES$24.71
CD$19.77

Wagner : Der fliegende Hollander (Le Vaisseau fantôme)

Matti Salminen

Opera - Released September 1, 2011 | PentaTone

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 4F de Télérama
In preparation for the Wagner bicentennial in 2013, Marek Janowski and Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester and Rundfunkchor Berlin began an ambitious project of recording the composer's ten major operas for Pentatone with Der fliegende Holländer in 2010. The recording's strongest points are the stellar performances by the orchestra and chorus; there's real fire and passion in their playing and singing. This is not Wagner's most dramatically coherent opera, but Janowski manages to keep the momentum going and the big moments are genuinely stirring. The leads are mostly very fine but not consistently memorable; the general lack of real distinction keeps this from being a contender as a top-ranked recording of the opera. Daland has been a signature role for Matti Salminen, who delivers the strongest performance among the leads; his characterization is sharply and vividly realized, and while his noble voice shows its age, it's appropriate for the role. As the Dutchman, Albert Dohmen has a vocal quality not sufficiently differentiated from Salminen's, and although his singing is never less than adequate, he fails to convey the character's mythic dimensions. Ricarda Merbeth as Senta has a voice that's large enough for the part but that's somewhat hard and inflexible, and that fails to generate much sympathy for her character. Robert Dean Smith usually sounds strained as Erik, except in his relatively rare quiet passages. The singer who makes the strongest and most lingering impression is Steve Davislim in the small role of the Steersman. The sound is clean, full, and nicely nuanced.© TiVo
From
HI-RES$12.36$24.71(50%)
CD$9.89$19.77(50%)

Wagner : Das Rheingold

Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra

Opera - Released November 6, 2015 | Naxos

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 5 de Diapason
The opening evening of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, Das Rheingold is the prologue of the cycle, which is followed in turn by the music dramas Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung. The first instalment in Jaap van Zweden's projected Ring with the Hong Kong Philharmonic -- an undertaking he regards as central to his tenure with the orchestra -- is a promising beginning that may surprise many experienced Wagnerians. Van Zweden is ambitious in presenting the Ring with this orchestra, which plays it for the first time, though in fairness to the musicians, they offer an intensity and vigor that more than makes up for any minor scrappiness. This Naxos recording also boasts an impressive cast that stars baritone Matthias Goerne as Wotan, mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung as Fricka, and baritone Peter Sidhom as the dwarf Alberich, and their singing is as secure as many of the better-known voices at Bayreuth. The only problem worth mentioning is the strange balance of the sound, which is presumably due to miking the live performance, but it may also be a result of the mixing, which in places seems subdued. However, the concert hall's spacious acoustics give credible presence to the singers. The remaining operas are expected to be released on an annual basis, with the cycle's completion in 2018.© TiVo
From
HI-RES$59.32
CD$47.46

Wagner: Das Rheingold, WWV 86A (Live)

Sir Simon Rattle

Classical - Released September 25, 2015 | BR-Klassik

Hi-Res Booklet
Simon Rattle's 2015 recording on BR Klassik of Richard Wagner's Das Rheingold has much of the intensity and drama of a fully staged production, though it was patched together from two concert performances and benefits from studio-quality recording and editing. One senses that Rattle wished to make a definitive recording, as free as possible from musical blemishes and stage mishaps, so every precaution was taken to capture all the vocal parts and the orchestral accompaniment carefully and cleanly, without losing any of the excitement of live performance. This recording features baritone Michael Volle as Wotan, bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny as Alberich, and mezzo-soprano Elisabeth Kulman as Fricka, with a supporting cast that is vocally strong and well-rehearsed, even though many of the singers are not famous outside Germany. The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra is dynamic and powerful, sounding as if it has been playing Wagner's operas for years, in addition to its extremely busy recording schedule for other repertoire. In light of these points, Rattle's Rheingold is a fine recording for home listening and studying the score, as opposed to a more theatrical or historical version to be appreciated for distinctive acting or legendary singing.© TiVo
From
CD$19.77

Wagner: Parsifal, WWV 111

Martha Modl

Opera - Released June 2, 2023 | Profil Edition Guenter Haenssler

Booklet
The production of Wagner's overgrown Grail tale Parsifal from the shrine at Bayreuth, directed by the composer's grandson Wieland and first staged in 1951, was famously spare in its design; the conductor, Hans Knappertsbusch ("Kna," to perfect Wagnerites), thought the sets were still to be constructed and was chagrined to find that there really were very few. Vocally, however, the music was luxuriant. By the time of this 1955 live recording, most of the singers, including Martha Mödl as Kundry, were veterans of the production, and there was a strong newcomer, baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Amfortas, already with his characteristic honeyed tone. The production was recorded in the studio in 1951, with somewhat better sound than on this release, but really, the live sound is impressive for 1955 (some of the credit should go to Hänssler Classic's remastering), and text intelligibility is great. Further, Knappertsbusch is known to have preferred live performance to recording, and the production benefits from a good deal of forward motion; sample around and compare timings with other recordings, for almost everywhere, Knappertsbusch comes in faster than average. Yet the music never feels rushed in any way. Of course, several generations of Wagner singers have come and gone since this recording was made, but for those wanting to experience Wagner "from the source," this may be a prime choice despite its age. © James Manheim /TiVo
From
CD$19.77

Wagner: Lohengrin, WWV 75 (Recorded Live 2011)

Bayreuther Festspielorchester

Classical - Released June 22, 2018 | Opus Arte

Booklet
Recorded live at a performance in Bayreuth on 14 August 2011, this Lohengrin naturally benefits a lot from the place's amazing sound; the listener will surely forgive the little noises from around the stage or hall: it is, after all, a very small price to pay for having a front-row seat at a live performance, and with the element of risk – taken by the singers, at least – which heightens the experience. The production brings together some of the greatest voices of the day, led by the tenor Klaus Florian Vogt, a real free radical, who started his career as... horn player in the Hamburg Philharmonic! But soon he heard the call of the lyrical, and he began a superb career as a tenor, first lighter, in Mozartian roles, and then more powerful with Wagner and the roles of the young "Heldentenor." As Elsa, we have Annette Dasch, who had already made a much-remarked-upon début in Bayreuth the year before – also as Elsa. Bass Heinrich Zeppenfeld is following the same Bayreuth trajectory, as King Henry the Fowler. The ambiguous Ortrud is played by Petra Lang, who since moved on to play Isolde, also at Bayreuth, a few years later – a fine rendition. © SM/Qobuz
From
HI-RES$24.70
CD$19.76

Cadmus & Hermione

Vincent Dumestre

Classical - Released May 1, 2021 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

Hi-Res Booklet
Jean-Baptiste Lully's Cadmus & Hermione of 1673 was arguably the first true French opera, telling a tragic story (Lully and his librettist Philippe Quinault called it a tragédie en lyrique), employing Italian-style recitatives, and collecting the varied music and dance forms of Louis XIV's opulent court into a coherent narrative that at once celebrated Louis (he is conflated with Cadmus of Thebes) and moved beyond the ceremonial nature of earlier French dramatic music. It's a sprawling work, with five acts, an overture, and a sizable Prologue with its own overture; highlights include a dragon that eats Africans, a monster snake, and a full complement of Greek gods and goddesses. Realization of the work has, until now, been beyond the means of early music performance groups, and this is the world premiere recording of the opera, made in 2019 and based on a 2008 performance at Versailles Palace by some of the same performers. The leader is Vincent Dumestre, conducting the Le Poème Harmonique orchestra and the vocal ensembles Aedes. The forces are large enough to capture the splendor of the music (thankfully, no one-voice-per-part techniques here), and Dumestre is alert to the huge variety of musical devices Lully brings to bear on his story; there are dances, big choruses, bagpipes, and much more. Cadmus & Hermione may be a difficult work to bring to life for modern audiences, but Dumestre keeps things moving along and probably comes as close as anyone could. Of course, anyone interested in the life of the French court in the 17th century will find this an essential acquisition that will keep giving and giving. © TiVo